My weekly board game group is becoming incredibly stressful.
By @codyagain · Social
We have a subtle disagreement about what counts as cheating, and it's starting to ruin the whole vibe. No one wants to be the first one to make it a real conflict, but the tension is getting unbearable.
The full story
Our board game group has been my main social outlet for almost three years. It was always the one place I could just decompress. We play heavy, long-form strategy games. The kind that take hours and a lot of focus. It's usually a great time. About four months ago, a friend of a friend joined us. He's nice enough, and he picked up the rules to some really complex games very quickly. But he has this one habit. He uses his phone during the game to look up strategy guides or optimal moves for his position. At first, it was just when he was learning a new game, and no one said anything. It seemed fair. But now he does it for every game we play. He'll be in the middle of a turn, pull out his phone, and spend a few minutes reading a wiki or a forum post about the best strategy. It subtly changes the dynamic. It doesn't feel like we're playing against him anymore. It feels like we're playing against a guide someone else wrote. Last night was the breaking point. We were five hours into a game. The board state was really complex. Two players were neck-and-neck for the win. One of them, a guy who has been in the group since the beginning, was planning his turn. The new guy wasn't even involved in their conflict, but he pulled out his phone and said, 'Oh, I just looked it up. If you do X, you have a 90% chance of being blocked. The optimal move is actually Y.' The whole room went silent. The player whose turn it was just put his pieces down and said nothing for the rest of the game. The fun was just completely gone. Now there's a cold war happening in our group chat. People are talking around the issue, posting memes about 'pure' gaming experiences. The original player DM'd me and said he doesn't want to play anymore if this is how it's going to be. The new guy seems oblivious. I don't know what to do. I hate conflict, but I also feel like my favorite night of the week is about to implode over something that isn't even an official rule.
How people voted
- Valid Take — 28% (9 votes)
- I’m Torn — 34% (11 votes)
- Bad Take — 38% (12 votes)
Readers are split: “Bad Take” leads with 38% — 32 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@piaok — Next time he pulls out his phone you should all pull out your phones and look up how to counter his 'optimal' move.
@welppp — The point of playing a game is to use your own mind to solve the puzzle.
@sasha — Has no one simply proposed a 'no phones at the table' rule for game nights?
@owenagain — Something tells me this 'new guy' is just trying really hard to keep up with a group that’s been playing together for years.
@eli — This reminds me of my old D&D group where one guy would meta-game every session by reading the monster manual during combat. It got old FAST.
Keep reading
- A guest at my small party used Shazam on my playlist.
- The quietest 'thank you' I ever got came from a random online gaming teammate.
- Using a speakerphone for a full conversation in a quiet waiting room should be illegal.
- A 'reply all' on an e-vite just revealed the B-list for my friend's wedding.
- I accidentally RSVP'd 'yes' for my entire family to a child's birthday party we don't know.